FIGS. 5 and 6 show a layout example of various equipments or devices within an engine room of a conventional vehicle that runs by using only power of a vehicle engine as a driving force.
FIG. 5 is a partial plan view illustrating a layout example of various devices within an engine room of a conventional vehicle. FIG. 6 is a partial side view thereof. As shown in these figures, in the conventional vehicle, an engine 102 is arranged on a right side of the vehicle with respect to a vehicle widthwise center line CL of an engine room 101. A transmission 106 is arranged continuously from the engine 102 on a left side of the vehicle. A battery 120 (12 volt) is arranged above the transmission 106. An air-conditioning compressor 113 and an alternator 121, which are accessories, are respectively mounted to a front portion and a rear portion of the engine 102.
When the vehicle employs a layout in which an exhaust pipe 104 extends from a front side of the engine 102, a radiator 105 is arranged toward the left side so as not to be affected by heat from the exhaust pipe 104. In FIGS. 5 and 6, reference characters S1 to S3 denote engine mounts, and reference numeral 110 denotes a brake fluid pressure generating device such as a brake master cylinder and a brake booster. In FIG. 6, reference character Cc denotes a crank center (a center of a crankshaft) of the engine, and reference character Tc denotes a center of an output shaft of the transmission.
In recent years, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) equipped with an engine and an electric motor so as to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy has been provided. The hybrid electric vehicles are driven by using various systems such as a series system, a parallel system, a motor-assisted system, and a series/parallel system (switchover system). In the series system in which an engine and a power generating motor are arranged in series, the power generating motor is driven by the engine, electric power generated thereby is charged into a battery, and a driving motor is driven by using the electric power charged in the battery to rotate wheels.
In the conventional vehicle using only the power of the engine 102 as the driving force as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the air-conditioning compressor 113 is driven by the engine 102. In the hybrid electric vehicle, however, the engine is sometimes stopped. It is thus necessary to drive an air-conditioning compressor by an electric motor (e.g., see Patent Document 1). In actual cases, an electric compressor driven by an electric motor incorporated therein is used as the air-conditioning compressor.
With regard to an arrangement structure for the air-conditioning compressor, Patent Document 2 proposes a configuration in which an electric motor section of an air-conditioning compressor is arranged closer to a center of gravity of an engine with smaller vibration, thereby suppressing a vibrating force on the electric motor section to be small and preventing damage to the electric motor.
Furthermore, Patent Document 3 proposes a configuration in which a projection portion is provided on a compressor housing, and a rear surface of the projection portion on a driving engine side is arranged closer to the engine than an end surface of an inverter housing on the engine side. Accordingly, even when a mounting leg portion is broken with an electric compressor receiving a load from a side member in a vehicle crash, the projection portion comes into interference with the engine before an inverter device to stop movement of the electric compressor. Interference between the inverter device and the engine is thereby avoided to prevent damage to the inverter device.